If you are looking to spread some Irish cheer, then check out these St. Patrick’s Day tutorials. The day goes by so quickly, but there’s no reason not to add a little luck to your decor. I’m half Irish and I could see trying out one of these pretty ideas as a gift to my red-headed side of the family. Those who are Irish may not keep out St. Patrick’s Day decor for only a few days, but cherish the items all year long.

St. Patrick’s Day Sewing Tutorials

Spruce up a bathroom or kitchen with this pretty shamrock banded towel!

Easy Hand Towels from A Little Clairification

A cut wall hanging or garland, and made from washcloths! What great texture!

Washcloth Shamrock & Hear from Craft Ideas

Toss a patchwork pillow on a chair to add some luck to your living space!

Lucky Pillow from Jedi Craft Girl

Transform a plain old tee into a chic St. Patrick’s day outfit!

Shamrock Chic Tee from iCandy

This quilted table topper could become a family heirloom.

Luck of the Irish Table Topper from Moda Bake Shop

Use hearts to create a shamrock pin and wear to work on this lucky day!

I want to invite you all to join For the Love of Fabric, a Fabric Shopper Pinterest board that is for pinning beautiful fabric just for the fun of it! Pin photos of your own stash, someone’s stash you drool over, your fantasy collection, favorites, or just a combination of prints you really love! If you know the fabric source or collection, please let us know. But otherwise, just join us in our love of really beautiful fabric!

All you have to do is like the board, then email me or comment on one of my pins and let me know you’d like an invite!

Today we have a guest post from Randi of Fresh Squeezed Fabrics, one of our Fabric Shopper Sponsors who has an expert eye when it comes to how to choose fabrics for your quilting projects. I follow her blog, I Have to Say, and I’ve always ALWAYS admired how effortless her fabrics seemed to coordinate. In fact, the one quilt top I’ve actually made was completely inspired by her! Visit her shop and ask her for help! She’s amazing!

(Fresh Squeezed Fabrics is a monthly sponsor, but I am receiving no compensation for this post. I just truly believe in her!)

Take it away Randi!

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Picking fabric for your quilt is the best part. Seriously, I could choose and purchase fabric for projects all day long and never actually make them, but still feel like I was being artistic and crafty. And I am not even talking about the goodies on my store shelves…..

Picking fabric can also be frustrating. Where do I start? What if I pick something that looks bad? What if others don’t like it?

Let’s take the mindset of “just do it” when it comes to choosing fabrics for your quilt. Be bold. Go with what you like. Even if your friend tells you that it doesn’t look right.

Here are some tips for you. This is not an exhaustive list, but rather some starting points for you. If you have other ideas please leave them in the comments so people have more direction.

I generally start with a “focus” fabric. This fabric tends to be a larger print with lots of color. I just grabbed this one off of my shelves:

It’s from one collection I love, the Meadowsweet collection. From there I started “piling it on”. If you are shopping in a store, you can do this on your cart or on a counter. If you are online, you can make copies of the pictures of fabrics and glue them on a paper. I do this when I am ordering from large lines and only want certain pieces.

“Piling it on” simply means to start stacking fabrics on top of your focus fabric. Pick fabrics with colors you like and patterns that catch your eye. Take some chances here.

Here is one stack that I made:

And here is another:
Here are the two stacks side-by-side:
As you can see, one stack is lots of pinks, the other is oranges and greens. All starting with the same fabric.

If you add a fabric you don’t like, just remove it. Try to add a variety of prints sizes and color values. And just keep piling until you 10 that you like. Then walk purposefully up to the counter and make. your. purchase. No looking back, girls.

Another way to choose fabric is by color. If you want a pink and brown quilt, you will want to start just grabbing all of the pink and browns that you like off the shelves (or making copies from the computer). Don’t stop at 10. Is there a bit of yellow or blue in one of the fabrics? Maybe adding a bit of that will be a nice complement. Does it look bad in the pile? Toss it out.

Once you have a giant pile that is about to topple over, starting whittling it down to 10. Keep the ones you love and set aside the so-so ones. Do you love the look of your pile? Then go for it!

If you want to make a quilt with all blues, I suggest that you get a range of color. Ten navy blue fabrics might be a bit overwhelming and boring, but if you throw in some light blue or some turquoise, the colors will really look exciting.

Be creative. Don’t be scared to make a mistake. Ask for help if you need to. All fabric shop owners LOVE fabric (I know this from experience) and will be happy to help.

That’s it. I hope this gives you a bit of direction.

Have a great day!

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Don’t forget to visit Randi and ask for her help, or just simply shop her great selection!

Are you the type of person who has more than one sewing project going on at the same time? You may need to store your works in progress for several reasons. Sometimes this is deliberate because you have multiple pieces you need to finish by variable time frames. Sometimes you have a large project that takes a lot of time and you need to save it for when you have those large blocks of free time. And of course sometimes you are so inspired by something that you put down what you are doing and start something else (a-hem).

While this article might be good for those people who are focused enough to work start to finish on one project at a time, it is truly meant for those of us who need a little organization help.

How to store your works in progress

Flat plastic bins
Flat clear plastic bins with lids are ideal for sewing projects. You can lay out your pieces as flat as possible, you can see what’s inside, and they are easily stacked for vertical storage.

Chalk labels

Chalk labels on the outside are another quick way to tell what is inside, and they have the convenience of easily wiping off when it’s time to fill it with a new project.

Small plastic containers

Small plastic containers are great for keeping smaller items, such as small fabric squares or other pieces of the project that might be easily confused. Try food storage containers, especially inexpensive ones that you can find at the dollar store.

Large zipper storage bags

Another way to keep parts of a project separate is to use gallon sized zipper storage bags. These help keep larger pieces separate and you can write directly on it what’s inside to make finding things much easier later.

Small zipper storage bags

Use in place of the small plastic containers, or fill with notions that you want to keep handy. Thread color selections with matching bobbins, special pins, trim, and other items you are using specifically for this project won’t be easily lost in a chaotic craft room.